What game(s) are you playing right NOW?

[Harrison]

I recently bought the new Wolfenstein game but could not play it immediately because there is Securom on it and I did not want to infect my computer with it.

I hate copy protection systems. It is one major reason in support of pirated games. All such issues removed.

But I now have a solution for it and have played and finished it for the first time.

I am a bit disappointed by... the removal of the health bar (auto health now) and quick save options, making it clear this is a port, but at least you can carry more than two weapons

The removal of the health bar has been common in many recent PC FPS games and I personally think it adds to the gameplay. It requires more strategy as you need to find cover and recover from injury before continuing. This really adds to the suspense of a situation and hightens the real sense of danger in the game as you are aware of every bullet hitting you. With a health bar they make you pretty much immune until it depletes. Getting rid of the bar in my view is an advancement as it replaces arcade style fighting with more realistic situations.

I've also liked the idea of directional indicators showing where bullets are coming from. In the past it has been so easy in FPSers to become disorientated to the direction of the enemy hitting you. With these indicators it adds to your senses and improves things.

As for quick save points or check points. I'm not so sure which works better. Check points give the player a higher sense of achievement when they finally reach one and know they are safe from having to repeat the last section, but equally quick save options allow you to remove the frustration of repeating parts of a game.

[Sharingan]

Been juggling quite a few games lately, among which some spiffy Playstation Store downloadables. Funny how €8 games offer more entertainment and lastability compared to some fullprice titles...

Anyway, I'm currently trying to finish:

BioShock - great atmosphere, expected it to be more creepy
Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires - not much depth, but I like a bit of hack and slash now and then
Burn Zombie Burn - hilarious Smash TV-inspired shooter, but with zombies
Fat Princess - another hilarious PSN game; essentially a RTS, but you get to control the little men doing the harvesting, the fighting, the bombing etc.
Flower - interactive artwork, breathtaking
Batman Arkham Asylum - possibly the best comic-to-game adaptation so far in history
Resident Evil 5 - zombies
inFamous - still have to start this

[Puni/Void]

Recently I've played Fallout 3 with all the different expansions installed. Recommended!

[Tiago]

I am playing "Myst II - Raven" ... i know i know, it's from last century... but i did love Myst I, so i bought it for a very nice price on ebay, and it's cool to play it and read the Myst books at the same time!

[Harrison]

I'm currently playing the original Call of Juarez.

I couldn't get the game to install under Vista 64bit when i first got it. It would only install to the default location or the installer would crash, and even then it crashed on start up saying it wasn't compatible with this version of Windows. Grrr. Anyway, I thought I would try again last Friday but the same thing happened, so I had a search and downloaded a copy. This one installed exactly the same (only allowing the default location), but this time it let me apply the update patches and it worked!

I hadn't managed to play Call of Juarez before and it is quite good. The environments look great, especially running the game under Vista with the DirectX 10 patch installed and a good enough graphics card. The two points of view are well done with some great voice acting, especially from the preacher.

It does have flaws though. I don't think the actual game mechanics are that great, especially compared to many other FPS in recent years. Some combat elements are quite cool, such as the quick reaction mode when you draw your guns as the preacher, allowing you to target multiple shots while your two crass hairs move towards the centre of the screen. And also the red indian bow and arrow is quite a cool weapon. Aiming the bow slows down time allowing you to aim for some great head shots, and gives a great sense of you being hidden with the enemy not knowing what is about to hit them.

The flaws include bad enemy AI. I managed to sneak up to a camp fire with 3 bandits sitting around it, and using the bow and arrow managed to pick them all off one by one without the others noticing. The level designs are also not that amazing, or they introduce silly navigation down rocks.

One game mechanic I hate is the whip/rope to navigate large gaps. It is easy to latch on it trees to swing, but one launched it isn't that easy to work out when you are save to drop at the other side.

Some parts also don't give you time to think, so you end up dying at least once before you know what you have to do next. For example, grabbing some bullets in the cabin sees you instantly caught by the owner, and the game indicating your only option is to escape though the window behind you. Easier said than done when the enemy is holding a shot gun to your head.

The character animations are also not that great. People and horses walk in a very wooden unnatural way.

But the story is great so it is still worth playing.

And if you have a DX10 graphics card the game will give it a workout. Plus it has a DX10 benchmark test program that flies you though parts of the game and highlights different DX10 modes. This allows you to set different resolutions, anti-aliasing etc.. great to see what your GPU can do.

[Ghost]

Currently trying to finish Cave Story.
Damn that last segment, Hell, is truly HARD.
I know it's made to challenge those who succeeded in getting all the accomplishments in order to access it, but Pixel, you could have had some heart at the time for the lesser quick-reflex types amongst the human population.

[Buleste]

Project Stealth Fighter on my C64. Still the best.